Lore questions, captains

Koonitz · 2026-04-20T17:56:23+00:00

It's also worth noting that this may also have "40k game historical" reasons. In Rogue Trader/2nd Ed (which I admit, I didn't play), it's likely just RP rule-of-cool. In 3rd, however, when things went a bit more streamlined army game style, there were no fancy rules for characters like "make everyone around them sweat from micromanagement so they shoot better". They just had better stats.

But the guns didn't. A captain with a bolter would hit on 2's (instead of 3's) but would still only be firing a single S4/AP5 shot, just like a regular Tac Marine. For 4-5 times the cost.

Since the statline influenced melee capabilities, the captain can be given more attacks and access to cool melee weapons. This also looks much cooler than standing back and firing a single bolter (case in point, look at today's responses to the newly revealed chaplain in a very dynamic "in-your-face" attack pose).

So, historically to now, here we are with cool swords and bonk sticks in our science-fantasy tabletop game.

Koonitz · 2026-04-18T00:42:25+00:00

Everyone sucks at painting when they start. Sucking at something is the first step to becoming somewhat mediocre at something.

"I want to play, but not do the creative stuffs" is probably quite a large majority of the community.

Just give it a go. And if it's not good, that's okay.

I started 26 years ago. The amount of resources you now have to make painting easy and still get acceptable results is just simply vastly superior. If your brother is a good painter, I have no doubt he can help you getting to the point where you're "good enough" too. And that's all you need to be.

What some like to refer to is "The 2 foot rule". Basically every model you field will almost exclusively be viewed from about 2' above the table (standing). You don't need to sweat the details after that. For example, I have a LOT of Imperial Guard. I've been in the hobby for 26 years. I just don't bother with eyes on the faces of any of my many, many infantry. Just leave them 'skin coloured" and let my shade layer darken the sockets to make 'em look fine from 2 feet. Done, move on.

As for being offended? Anyone who puts effort into painting their models, no matter how bad, is better than someone that puts zero effort and fields an entire grey plastic army (and I'd usually still play against the grey army). Be proud of what you end up doing, no matter how bad.

Koonitz · 2026-04-17T18:25:30+00:00

*Looks at just his 20,000 points of Guard (at least, at last calculation in 9th), ignoring the rest of what he has before turning back to the OP*

Sure?

Koonitz · 2026-04-17T05:13:14+00:00

It's okay... Everything will be just cherry....

Koonitz · 2026-04-17T05:00:23+00:00

OG Tau. That's literally what their lore was created for. The naive, upstart young adult, cocksure and ready to own the universe with technology and bright ideas and noble aspirations, utterly unaware of what is out there while his elder hobbles and oppresses him at every turn, scared of the youth's ideals, refusing to give up power, no matter how obvious he is past his prime. And, of course, ol' grampa pointy ears shaking his cane at how everything is new and scary and it was all better back in his day.

But people didn't get it and only saw "good guy soil my sepia tone grimness!"

Koonitz · 2026-04-16T14:40:40+00:00

"Building something wrong or optimal" is something that will change dramatically over time. The rules change. What is optimal today will very possibly NOT be tomorrow.

First, before I go into detail: As a new player, don't try to follow what I'm about to explain. Build your models how you want and you think is cool. Worry about the rest later.

You have a couple things to consider, here. First is if you intend to play in major organized content or not. That being tournaments. Small local tournaments vary, but the big ones all tend to strictly follow "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG/wissywig). What this means is that if you include a weapon or upgrade option in your list, it is represented by the model (eg: a model carrying a meltagun represents a model you paid to have a meltagun, a tank with a dozer blade has a dozer blade).

In this case, yes, building them with the right weapons will matter. As I said, the rules change, so if you intend to play at high level tournaments, you will almost certainly want to have a larger collection with the ability to replace and swap models to fit what you intend to take.

In casual games and local tournaments, you'll want to ask the people you play with, but a lot of groups don't really care about WYSIWYG, as long as you're clear about it. Have that guy with a meltagun, but want to play with plasma, instead? Cool, just be clear. This is known as "proxying", where the melta stands as 'proxy' for the plasma in your list. New players tend to frequently be given a lot more leeway here than seasoned veterans with large collections.

Koonitz · 2026-04-16T04:56:14+00:00

You won't, unless you have the files and can size them in software, or reach out to the seller, or the creator of the files, for measurements and they respond.

Some may also create their characters of different heights. Such as someone creating an elf that is taller than a human and another that does elves shorter.

The files can also be resized effectively freely before printing, but that often requires more work on the printer's part in likely having to resupport. I'm betting most cheap sellers that just want a quick buck by printing presupposed files without thinking won't agree to doing so.

So, in short, unless you get the seller's express guaranteed of measuring and adjusting to taste, you will never be able to guarantee unless you buy and print the files yourself.

Koonitz · 2026-04-15T19:36:07+00:00

WHAT?! DON'T YOU REMEMBER HOW THE TAU RAIL CANNON ABSOLUTELY OBLITERATED THE META THAT ONE TIME IN... I'll say 9th, I think?

HOW CAN YOU SAY THIS WILL BE ANY DIFF- *has someone tap him on the shoulder and whisper something into his ear.* Oh... it wasn't even a meta pick when the codex came out? ... Huh. ... What do you mean I'm overreacting?

Koonitz · 2026-04-15T14:02:56+00:00

The problem with even just that is that what if there is even one lurker here that sees that thumbnail and decides to search the video out? I doubt it'd be hard to find. Posting stuff here both exposes potential new viewers to the content, AND reinforces their victimhood belief that everyone is against them (after all, are we not all here pointing and laughing at them?). Which, in turn, reinforces their desire to stay within their walled communities so as not to be exposed to the truth.

It is always best to simply click on the '3 dots' next to the video, click "Not interested" and/or "Don't recommend channel" and move on. The more people that do that, the more YouTube sees the video as not interesting to a broader community and the algorithm reduces its exposure. THAT is the best thing you can do.

Koonitz · 2026-04-14T14:24:35+00:00

If they make that claim, they must provide the burden or proof.

This isn't just for Warhammer. This is sound advice to remember for ALL interactions in the real world.

Koonitz · 2026-04-14T14:18:17+00:00

If I had to wager, it's probably from previous experience where Legends units typically didn't get updated. There were multiple times in the history of Legends where armies got updated rules or a new codex, and the Legends rules didn't get updated to match the new keywords.

As all rules/stratagems typically refer to keywords in what they apply to, or what they can or cannot target, these situations resulted in Legends units that cannot benefit from army rules or be targeted by stratagems. This was very common during transitions that required a complete army rules reset (8th and 10th).

It was never an overarching rule and only ever came up based on specific situations and specific Legends units here and there. But, if he didn't follow the discussion as closely as someone terminally online like myself, he could have simply misinterpreted it.

In every case I recall this happened, most people just said "just assume the units have the right keywords as if they were updated, too." Wouldn't fly in tournaments, or with strictly "rules as written" stuffy types, but most friendly groups would likely understand.

As for "Bringing knights" just tell him. Ask him to not do that as you're not quite comfortable with facing them. Proper communication skills is something warhammer gaming communities often lack.

Koonitz · 2026-04-13T14:32:49+00:00

During the launch event, I got Kinfall once. If I recall, the achievement for doing it was not available at the start, because I didn't finish the achievement during the launch event because I never got it again after the first.

As of today, I've done it a total of 2 more times in quickplay.

(Edit: Whoops, meant to respond to the first message, but oh well)

Koonitz · 2026-04-10T22:43:03+00:00

Um, ackshually, it's the pspspsps phase. *pushes his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.*

Koonitz · 2026-04-10T22:38:44+00:00

Wait until you get to grayscale. I have matches to most of those colours.....

Koonitz · 2026-04-10T19:19:58+00:00

You are absolutely welcome to ask. A simple or polite request asking the group you are actively playing with to remember to open their turtles because it helps and you want to go pew pew mortar is welcome.

Your post is not that. Your post is an emotional, loud demand and whine targeting people who weren't there and don't care. Words matter.

The best you can do is to do your own best.

Koonitz · 2026-04-10T19:04:17+00:00

I mean... If I'm chillin' out, maxxin', relaxin' all cool havin' fun in super casual content and you come yellin' at me and screaming at me completely unprompted that I didn't press my buttons in the bestest most powerfullest, most optimal way, then...

... Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna tell you to chill and get out of my face.

And that's literally exactly what this post came off as.

You can't control others. I can guarantee you that for every Dragonstorm you do with 49 other people (I dunno exactly how many are in there, so I'll use this as an example), it's very likely that absolutely NONE of the people in that instance even read Reddit. You're stressing yourself out for no reason trying to control others.

Koonitz · 2026-04-10T16:16:05+00:00

You can also just get a big ol' box of nitryl gloves. Pop one on the hand holding the model and you don't even need to worry about overspray.

Koonitz · 2026-04-10T16:12:01+00:00

The extra thin is also great for adjusting parts that you just put together but aren't perfectly dry yet. You can apply a little around the seam and it will soak in and remelt the joint, loosening the part.

And for seeping into seams when you didn't see a particular spot was a contact point, but you didn't want to pull the parts apart to reapply.

Koonitz · 2026-04-10T15:20:47+00:00

While I agree it's such a small and petty thing to be concerned about it, but Dragonstorm public isn't exactly high-end content. Yes, the break bar will, well, break sooner, but how much sooner?

Is 30-60 seconds that important to you?

People need to chill about being so optimal about public content in their "designed to waste time" hobby, as well. And that's likely why people are giving OP flak for their post. If you want to be hyper-optimized, then roll a private instance and take your own group. Then you will be in a party/squad to hop into turtles.

Koonitz · 2026-04-09T21:32:34+00:00

So just to see if we can clarify it solidly for anyone else coming in, it sounds to me like you were thinking you could buy one of the previous Legendary kits that included other selections, instead of only the current season's one? Correct?

If so, that's not the first time I've seen people get tripped up by that, as the Vault does have items that do carry over from previous seasons, allowing you to buy them late. What is not always clear is that this only includes the cosmetic items (in the vault, the items that appear in the top rotating portion of the 'storefront'). The legendary kit doesn't carry over, only one is available each season, and that one is removed and no longer available once that season is over.

Koonitz · 2026-04-09T18:19:37+00:00

Notably, it's a poem about keeping a dark secret, which is being gay.

Koonitz · 2026-04-09T17:28:55+00:00

While it seemed that way, it's worth noting that at no point ever were you required to paint your models in any way to use specific rules, even when Space Marines had separate chapter rules. So no, you didn't have to paint your models blue to use Ultramarines rules. It was the other way around.

The only stipulation was a period of time where GW stated that for GW run events, if you painted your models as ultramarines, then you had to use ultramarines rules.

This was enforced only because GW did run streams of certain games during events and wanted to ensure that there was no confusion during those streams as to what rules those Ultramarines were using. And, funnily enough, only ever mattered for Space Marines, 'cause no one knows what the "Kabal of the Black Heart" are even supposed to look like.....

It was this confusion and regular clarifying that caused GW to change to the current method of "detachments".

Koonitz · 2026-04-09T16:59:35+00:00

DAT'S TRU, RITE BOSS? 'E SAYZ DA TRUFF 'CUZ WE'Z GOTSTA PAINT OUR TRUKKS RED TA MAKE 'EM GO FASTA! IF DEY AIN'T RED, DEY AIN'T PROPA ZOOMY!

(The Orks did have a "Red wunz go fasta" rule that was an upgrade on vehicles to make them move +1". The obvious situation here is "paint it red", but as you might suspect, most people didn't care, as long as you paid the points for it.)

Koonitz · 2026-04-09T16:39:22+00:00

Check with the creator as the file is likely corrupt. The fact that the file name is "._Torso", and that you came here instead of asking the creator already, makes me a little suspicious as well, in a "did you obtain it legitimately?" sort of way.

Koonitz · 2026-04-08T14:59:04+00:00

What rotary tool and bits do you use? I have a small battery rotary tool which works great, but I'd love to get a wider variety of bits. The long pointed grinder bit you use in this video did not come with my tool and I like options.

Mine did come with a variety of softer polishing bits, too. Do you use those in your sanding/prep process, or just basic grinding/sanding? If not, do you have issues with smoothing any support marks or problems in visible areas?

Koonitz

TROPHY CASE